Where are sacred spaces?  Lofty cathedrals, concert halls, libraries and art museums, forest glades, song-filled sanctuaries, the “thin places” of Celtic lore, and the secret Anabaptist caves.

What constitutes common ground?  Once the village commons of old, a space for gathering, markets and village fairs; now the city park or community center, the congregation or the internet.  Common ground can be found through words, music, and visual art, and is the place where we meet with those who differ from us—the common ground of reconciliation—perhaps the most sacred space of all.

Our city neighborhoods and our rural farming communities, our hometowns and our adopted homelands, the countries of our ancestors and the contours of our geographies—all of these are the places that have formed us; sacred space and common ground.  These places form who we are individually and communally, by our presence in them and our absence from them.  Place informs our art, whether a particular landscape or an inner geography.

Mennonite Arts Weekend 2010 will explore and celebrate The Art of Place: Sacred Spaces and Common Ground through a variety of art forms—visual art, music, and writing—and through the perspectives of a variety of artists.  Mennonite Arts Weekend is common ground for artists and those who appreciate the arts to gather, share and celebrate The Art of Place.